


The Torchwood Grinch

by celedan



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Christmas, M/M, Meet the Family, Series 03 Fix-It: Children of Earth (Torchwood)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21960034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celedan/pseuds/celedan
Summary: Ianto survived the 456-encounter... and come Christmas he wishes that he hadn't because meeting Jack's family as well as dinner with his own is a bit too much.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 8
Kudos: 90





	The Torchwood Grinch

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out a bit more serious (a lot of soul-searching and serious conversations are happening) at times than I thought, but it just happened, so bear with me here🙈

The silence stretching out between them started to become ridiculous. Tongue-tied, both siblings stared at their coffees in front of them, not daring to meet each other's eye.   
Fortunately, the bustle of the other people in the little café they sat in provided some much needed background noise against the awkward silence that surrounded their table like a frosty cloud.  
Ianto dearly wished the mobile in his pocket would start ringing. A pending Apocalypse would come right handy in his situation. But... that was how all of this had started, right? An Apocalypse, the End of the World. Nothing new for Torchwood, but this time, the whole world had known how close they had been to a catastrophe. This time, Torchwood hadn't been the unsung heroes in the shadows that saved everybody's asses without anyone being the wiser. This time, everybody had known, even if nobody had really known what was actually going on. In the end though, it had been down to Torchwood once more to safe the day, prepared to make the greatest sacrifice like they always did.  
And they had.  
And Ianto had almost paid the price.  
Goooddd... Everyone treated him like a raw egg since that day. Much to his worry, Gwen of all people was the one who treated him the most normal. But Jack and Rhian...   
To a certain degree, he could understand them. Or at least, he could understand his sister since it was a novel experience for her that her little brother almost died all of a sudden. But Jack... He had changed since... well, since. Gone were the careless, almost snide “I hate the word couple”-remarks or his sometimes dismissive nature of what they had. Instead, the Captain was attentive, loving (not that he had been harsh or cruel against Ianto before, but he was just... different now), more docile, and he never missed the oportunity these days to show Ianto what he felt for him, even in public (and especially in private). He had even, on one memorial day, the day Ianto had woken up again, told him; had actually said the three little words. It made Ianto nervous, and it baffled him, and, if he was really, really honest with himself, it made him happy as well of course. In what he had thought had been his dying moments, it had saddened him that Jack hadn't found the strenght to say it back.  
But now, Jack's loving behaviour alone showed him how traumatized the Captain had been by this near hit. Ianto had never thought Jack could be affected so strongly by something almost happening to Ianto Jones of all people.  
For Ianto on the other hand, it had been just another close call with death – even if a very close call this time. Maybe he reacted too blasé to his own almost demise, but for him, it hadn't been as horrible as it had been for Jack. The only regret he'd felt at that time was leaving Jack behind, fending alone for himself...  
Not that Ianto wasn't glad to have survived the 456-virus!  
He probably had to thank Yvonne Hartmann that he still dwelled among the living. When Ianto had forged his records before he'd approached Jack – the man's distaste of Torchwood London and Yvonne was well known; wouldn't have helped Ianto's case when he, Yvonne's pet PA of all people, had turned up on Jack's doorstep –, he had discovered in a heavily encrypted file that Miss Hartmann had performed experiments on him. That had been a few weeks before he had joined Torchwood officially, and obviously, she had Retconned any memory he had of the incidents. She had injected him with some serum that was supposed to make him better, stronger, more resilient, more intelligent (Ianto cringed at the thought that maybe all the cleverness he prided himself with hadn't been his to begin with). At the time, he had felt nothing but resentment for her for that, but now, he was grateful. Whatever that serum had been, it had probably battled the deadly virus swirling through Ianto's body, so that, instead of killing him, it had only hurtled him into a coma for a month while his body was busily purging the virus from his system.   
And during that month...  
He sighed softly, and threw a tentative glance at his sister who stubbornly stared down onto the coffee mug cradled between her hands.   
At first, she had thought him dead. They all had. Then, they had discovered that he was still alive – barely, but alive. Ianto didn't know exactly what had happened while he had been in hospital, heavily warded off against any threats from the government while Jack and Gwen had worked round the clock to redeem Torchwood, and make their lives safe again – they even managed to rebuilt the Hub basically (Ianto still didn't know how they had managed that). He only knew that his sister had been there to see him often. He felt guilty for that, for giving her so much grief, and that was why he felt obliged to meet her regularly since he'd woken up into this whole new world.   
It was hell every time; they didn't have much to talk about. But at least, he didn't have to lie about his job any more. He now knew the relief Gwen must have felt when she'd finally been able to come clean with Rhys about her job. Even if he wasn't close to his sister, the lie – only one more on his long list – had weighed heavily on him at times.   
“I met him, you know.”  
Her soft statement brought Ianto out of his musings violently. His head snapped up, and he stared at her incomprehensively. “What?”  
Rhian's gaze flitted up to meet his eyes for a short moment before she looked down into her mug again, her cheeks, astonishingly, reddening in a girly blush. “Your man. I... I met him. At the hospital.”  
Ianto's stomach plummeted down to his knees. “Oh,” was the only thing he could think of replying to that. In their three tentative meetings since he'd been released from hospital, Jack hadn't really come up until now – much to his relief (and obviously, Jack hadn't told him about this meeting either). It had all been about the real nature of Ianto's job in between all the silence they had down to an art by now.   
He flinched involuntary when Rhian put her hand over his suddenly. He felt compelled to look her in the eye.  
“I want to meet him,” she stated, her face drawn in that stubborn hint that never boded well for her little brother.  
“But you...”  
“Properly,” she cut him off. “I want to meet him properly. I want to see you both at Christmas dinner, and then, I want to get to know the man my little brother is in love with.”  
“I'm not in love,” was the automatic response that burned on his tongue, but he kept quiet. It was too late by now to deny it, either to his sister or to Jack, he'd made sure of that himself.  
He let out a long-suffering sigh.  
“Okay,” he finally conceded since there wasn't actually anything he could do to dissuade her; she'd just play the guilt card again.  
“Brilliant!” Rhian beamed at him, and this time cradled his hand in hers.   
Ianto threw her a wan smile.

“I want you to meet Alice and Stephen,” was the first thing Jack greeted him with a few days later.  
Ianto froze on the spot like a deer caught in the headlights, and almost dropped the lunch he'd been out to get.  
“W-what?!” burst out of him eventually, and the only thing he could do was stare stupidly at Jack.  
The Captain advanced on him with an excited, warm smile brightening his ridiculously handsome face. When he'd reached Ianto, he gently pried the paper bag with their food from Ianto's fingers to set it aside. He stepped closer until his chest brushed against Ianto's.  
“Why?” he asked stupidly, still staring at Jack wide-eyed.  
“Because it would make me happy, and Alice wants to meet you.”  
Oh oh, Ianto thought. Now he's serious. We're at the meet-the-family stage. And not any family. It's Jack's daughter!  
What was going on with them all lately?! Was there some kind of cheery Christmas virus spreading that compelled them to go all happy family? First his sister, okay, but now Jack, too?!  
He just wanted to open his mouth to voice his rather sardonic thoughts, but then thought better of it. He could clearly see how much this would mean to Jack.  
Sighing, Ianto closed his eyes for a moment, trying to regain his equilibrium before he had a confession to make of his own.  
At first, he hadn't wanted to tell Jack at all, dreading the Captain's reaction, but now that he saw how much Jack wanted to do the family thing, being completely serious about it all, Ianto surmised that Jack would probably react quite well to his revelation. Actually, secretely, Ianto had hoped that Jack would say “no” outrightly; in that case, he could blame Jack for begging off, but now...  
He briefly entertained the thought to keep quiet even now, but that would be cruel of him.  
Okay... Here it went.  
“Weeell,” he sighed. “Since we're at it... My sister, well, ordered us to come over to Christmas dinner.”  
For a moment, Jack stared at him, his head cocked like a puppy contemplating something. “Sure,” he eventually answered, throwing Ianto a smile. “She's a remarkable woman, I'd like to get to know her better.”  
Oh God, Ianto thought, I'm so screwed.  
Suddenly, Jack's jovial mien turned slightly more serious when he saw Ianto's miserable face, and he reached up to grasp Ianto's shoulders. “Please take to heart what I always told Gwen. Don't let it drift, use the time you have with your family.”  
Ianto almost started squirming under Jack's intense gaze, immediately realising that Jack wasn't only talking about Ianto's family but about the two of them as well.  
He gulped uncomfortably, and lowered his gaze. “Yeah, okay. Noted.” He looked up again. “Why did you never tell me you met her at the hospital?”  
Jack blinked a little perplexed at that. “Oh. I honestly forgot. There was so much on my mind, and when you woke up... that was the only thing I could think about, really.”  
Once more, this started to get slightly out of hand, or rather, way outside Ianto's comfort zone. He wasn't ready to deal with all these feelings between them. Sure, he was so happy that Jack cared so much about him, that he was committing himself to their relationship, but actually talking about it...  
Yeah... He was strange, he knew. Or maybe it was a general men's thing, even 51st century men like Jack had never been the talk-about-your-feelings type either. Before...  
“So.” Jack smiled challengingly to lighten the awkward mood again he had clearly sensed Ianto descending into. “I meet your family and you meet mine? Deal?”  
“Look, Jack,” Ianto squirmed, trying to defuse the potential disaster of the pending meeting somewhat. “After everything that happened, or almost happened with Alice and Stephen, do you think it wise to meet them for a whole meal, cooped up in one room all of us together playing happy family? She forgave you, and is grateful that you found a way to save Stephen, even if all the others said there was no other way but for him to die, yes, but... Couldn't we maybe... I don't know, go to the Christmas market or something? That would be more innocuous.”  
For a few moments, Jack looked at him, his head cocked again thoughtfully.   
“Sure, why not,” he said eventually, and smiled at him. “That's a great idea, Ianto.”  
Jack leaned over to peck him on the cheek, then turned on his heel to grab the bag of food that had been forgotten up until now.   
Feeling slightly numb, Ianto followed Jack into his office for their lunch.  
These days, it was just the two of them since Gwen took more and more time off because of her advancing pregnancy. It was tough sometimes, but fortunately, the Rift behaved at the moment so much that the two men even found some private time together. He had to admit that he enjoyed it most of the time, just the two of them (with everything that entailed).  
That was only one thing that had changed. That, and Jack's new attitude, the sudden developing relationship with Ianto's family (even if it was kinda forced)...  
And as for Jack's family, the Captain made an effort as well to be on better terms with his daughter which worked surprisingly well. Ianto wouldn't have thought that that would be possible, not after what Jack had told him had almost happened. He still hadn't all the facts, but obviously, to stop the 456, a child had been needed to exploit the connection between the children and the 456 to turn their own methods against them to chase them from this planet. Stephen had been the only child within reach. Jack hadn't told him how, but, although everyone present had insisted that there was no other way, that Stephen had to die in order to save millions of children, Jack had managed to channel the signal of the connection from Stephen to the 456 through his own body. Jack had taken the brunt of the lethal frequency and died, but the most important thing: Stephen had survived unscathed.   
God. To think what not only losing his grandson but in the course of that also his daughter would have done to Jack. Of what having to sacrifice his own grandson would... But it hadn't happened; for once, there actually was a Happy End for Torchwood.  
A whole new world for them indeed.

Christmas – and thus the pending meetings with Ianto's as well as Jack's family – approached.  
It was ridiculous, really, but Ianto got more nervous the faster the date approached. But... was it really so stupid to feel nervous? He was meeting Jack's family. That was a huge step (and a potentially disastrous and/or embarrassing one) in every relationship – and yes, they were in a relationship; even Ianto could admit to that now, and was slowly shedding the last of his inhibitions about them. The strange thing was, in his heart, he had accepted for a long time now that they were a couple, much, much sooner than Jack. The only thing that had made the fact harder to accept had been the dreaded reaction of his family. Maybe, when this meeting was over, Ianto could let it rest for good, and instead focus on their life together.  
But first things first, he had to get the meeting with Alice and Stephen over and done with.  
On Christmas Day, Ianto found himself ushered over the Christmas market by an equally as nervous Jack. But while Ianto's nervousness was turned into himself, Jack's manifested in twitchy giddyness.  
They were supposed to meet Alice and Stephen at the waffles booth. Ianto would have preferred the mulled wine booth so he could drink himself into oblivion since there was no Rift crisis in sight that would save him. Was it abnormal to think like that? Preferring the job – and a very dangerous job at that – over family? Well, he hadn't anything against family per se, but if just the awkward first meetings would be over yet...  
And then, Ianto spotted them. He knew what Alice looked like since Jack had shown him a photo of her and Stephen, but even if Ianto hadn't seen that beforehand, there was just something about the woman that was so Jack. She looked nothing like him, neither did Stephen, but the air she carried her with... Ianto couldn't really pinpoint it.  
Father and daughter shared an awkward hug that told Ianto they were new to that kind of thing. Greeting Stephen went better since the boy knew nothing of the lifelong tension between his mother and supposed uncle. Excitedly, he threw himself into Jack's arms, and let himself be picked up and spun around by a laughing Jack. Something tightened in Ianto at seeing this honest happiness pouring from his lover.  
When he'd put Stephen down again, Jack turned to Ianto, gently taking his arm, and dragging him forward to the woman who scrutinised him with dark eyes curiously and even a little guarded – she probably couldn't help herself since Ianto was Torchwood, too, and she had been brought up in the belief that everything Torchwood was dangerous.  
“Alice, this is Ianto,” Jack said, smiling at his daughter. Either he didn't sense the tension or he chose to ignore it. “Ianto, this is my d... sister Alice.”  
Ianto reached out a hand to her, smiling politely. “Nice to meet you,” he said, and was inwardly relieved when she took his offered hand.   
“Likewise.” She nodded curtly. “Jack told me a lot about you in the last couple of months.”  
Ianto cringed, and hoped that he hadn't joined the fate of all of Jack's other hapless lovers whose stories began with “I had a boyfriend once”. But she must have noticed his trepidation because she smirked knowingly at him. “Don't worry. He behaved. Only told me the good things.” Alice shrugged. “He praised you so much that I finally found I had to meet the man my brother is so smitten with. I've never seen him like this before.”  
Now, it was Jack's turn to squirm, and he tried to quickly change the topic, a small blush covering his cheeks, but Ianto for his part realised the peace offering she was giving him.  
He gave her an awkward smile since he didn't know what he was supposed to answer.  
Quickly, Jack dragged Stephen between them, and proudly introduced him to Ianto. When they shook hands, Ianto felt that the greeting with Alice had gone better. Ianto had never been that good with kids. His own niece and nephew barely knew him (which was his fault, granted), and they only tolerated him, he felt, because he slipped them money since he could afford to spoil them by working for Torchwood.   
Stephen seemed to sense his unease like a dog sniffing out people's fears; he looked up at Ianto blankly, then turned back to his “uncle”, clearly dismissing Ianto since he didn't have any use for the introverted, reserved man Jack had dragged along with.   
Slightly relieved, Ianto let Jack and Stephen rush ahead, both of them excitedly running from booth to booth to discover the wonders and delicacies that were sold there. That left him with Alice, but to be truthful, he rather endured any interogation, polite conversation or stony silence from her than having to deal with the child.   
“I mean it,” she eventually broke the silence between them. “You're good for him.”  
Ianto felt himself blush involuntarily. “Thanks. He's... he's good for me, too.”  
“You're nothing like I imagined though.”  
“Oh?” He peeked at her questioningly, slight trepidation once more spreading through him.  
Alice shrugged. “He can be...” She grimaced. “He can be very shallow. And often enough, that was reflected in his choice of lover.”  
“They can't all have been that bad,” Ianto tried to actually defend Jack's past lovers, thinking about the good examples like Estelle Cole instead of the bad ones like John bloody Hart.   
“Maybe I've been biased my whole life,” she admitted, her lips pressed together unhappily for a moment.  
“I understand.”  
“You really do, do you?” She cocked her head, but Ianto rather not meet her eyes.  
“How old are you?”  
Her sudden question threw Ianto, and he almost choked on his own air. He wondered if her straightforwardness was her father or her mother's heritage.   
“Twenty-Six,” he eventually divulged.   
“Good God,” Alice sighed. “You're almost ten years younger than me. I really forgot how young they all are.”  
“His lovers?” Ianto hated how timid he sounded.  
“No, Torchwood agents.”  
“Ah. Yes, reaching retirement age is rather unlikely in our job.”  
He startled when she suddenly placed a hand on his arm. Wide-eyed, Ianto stopped, and looked at her.   
“I'm sorry,” Alice said. “I didn't want to bring up... that day.”  
A little uncomfortably, Ianto covered her hand with his. “It's okay. It's over. All of us survived. Let's focus on that.”  
She searched his eyes for a moment. Ianto knew that gaze, as if those eyes could look down deep into your soul. Then, she nodded, and gave him an awkward smile. “Yes, let's. Some Christmas cheer we're spreading here! Let's rather take those two for an example.”  
Ianto couldn't help but laugh when he followed her gaze over to Jack and Stephen. 

The rest of the meeting went relatively well. Probably because Jack continued to run around with Stephen like puppies on a sugar high while Ianto stayed back with Alice. The conversation between them was sparse, but not uncomfortable.  
When it was time to leave again, Alice actually leaned in to kiss his cheek, and whisper in his ear, “He doesn't deserve you, but I'm happy for you both nonetheless.”  
Slightly wide-eyed, Ianto stared at her, having trouble swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat. “Thank you,” he managed to choke out. 

The relief Ianto had felt about the comparatively relaxed meeting vanished very quickly again when, in the late afternoon, it was time to head over to his sister's for Christmas dinner.   
He couldn't help himself, he was incredibly nervous. And since he was with his own family instead of strangers where he had to be polite, was the little brother again, it showed. He felt obstinacy bubble up inside him the moment he rang the doorbell.   
Rhian was the one opening the door, and she pulled her brother into a determined hug and then into the house before he had the chance to change his mind and flee. Unbestknown to Ianto, Jack chuckled at his lover's misery behind his back.  
When the door had clicked shut behind the two presents-laden men, Rhian let go of Ianto, and turned to Jack, looking expectantly between the two.  
Ianto sighed in exasperation. “Rhian, you remember Jack. Jack, meet my sister.”  
Grinning, Jack stepped forward, and, much to Ianto's horror, leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.  
“Nice to see you again,” he said, charme practically oozing from every pore.  
“It's so good to meet you properly this time,” Rhian answered happily, and then, much to Ianto's even greater horror, linked her arm with Jack's, steering him in the direction of the living room with Ianto following petulantly, carrying most of the bags with presents.   
What was happening here?! This couldn't be real!  
“Look who's here,” Rhian called over the loud ruckus of two children arguing and screaming at each other over who got to put the angel up onto the Christmas Tree.  
When Johnny looked up and spotted him, Ianto immediately regretted wearing his new suit (there had been the almost-end-of-the world, and he'd almost died, so he figured that was a good enough reason to celebrate that with new tailoring – Jack had paid, of course – and Christmas had seemed the proper occasion to wear it) instead of something more casual. Because Johnny directly steered for his brother-in-law to wrap an arm around Ianto's shoulders in a manly hug. “Gay boy's here,” he grinned at the younger man, and let his eyes rake mock-appreciatively over the rather flamboyant magenta shirt he wore under the charcoal-grey pinstriped three-piece suit. Although Ianto once more felt quite helpless faced with Johnny's boorish behaviour, treating Ianto as if he hadn't almost died whereas his wife treated him like a raw egg (it was shocking to admit, but Ianto felt actually grateful for the normal treatment, even if he still felt uncomfortable about it), this time, the teasing didn't sound as demeanening as it had only a few months ago. Maybe Rhian had had a serious talk with her husband beforehand.  
He returned Johnny's greeting with a bland smile, and breathed a sigh of relief when the other man let go of him, so that finally, Ianto could shove the presents into the man's arms.   
When he was free again, much to his surprise, his niece ran up to him, and wrapped her small arms around his waist in a surprisingly strong grip.  
“Uncle Ianto!” she squaled, and buried her face against his stomach.  
Even more helpless now, Ianto looked at his sister with big eyes.   
Rhian shrugged, but her eyes looked suspiciously bright. “I brought her to the hospital with me one or two times. Thought she should have the chance to say goodbye...” Rhian lowered her voice somewhat, and stage-whispered, “She was pretty thrown to see you like that.”  
Ianto opened his mouth to admonish his sister that she'd brought Mica to the hospital, but then shut it again, baffled that his coma had had such an impact on his niece. So much so that she now clung to him as if he'd always been her favourite uncle. Well, he was her uncle, but they weren't close. Until a few months ago, his sister's children hadn't really cared about him, and he in turn wasn't able to make any use of the children. Still couldn't, but it seemed as if that was about to change, as if Mica would force him to sort out his priorities. It wasn't that he didn't care about them, it was just that he was helpless confronted with them...  
“This is your uncle Ianto's boyfriend. Jack.”   
Rhian's voice brought him out of his head abruptly, and his head swivelled around to glare at her.   
She rolled her eyes when she interpreted her little brother's sullen look correctly. “Two mummys, remember,” she whispered, and pointed down at Mica who finally let go of Ianto to take a curious peek at Jack instead.   
The girl planted herself in front of Jack after some contemplation, hands at her hips in a frightening imitation of her uncle, and frowned seriously, her mouth pursed in a pout. “You have to take better care of 'im. He almost died.”  
Taken aback, the adults stared at Mica.  
Ianto had to swallow, unexpectedly touched by her words.  
Jack didn't seem to fare any better. He then shook himself from his baffled state, and bowed slightly before her. “I promise,” was all he answered her and with that, the topic seemed to be closed to her. Huffing in satisfaction, Mica turned back to the Christmas tree.  
Her father and brother watched the scene with big, incomprehensible eyes. Eventually, David scoffed ungraciously. “All that fuss because the sissy brings his new stud.”   
“Sh, David,” Johnny admonished hastily, and dragged his son back at the scruff of his T-shirt, shoving him in the direction of the tree again. “Ya can't say such things any more. It's not your uncle's fault that he's... ehm, into men now. We're all in this together now.”  
Next to Ianto, Rhian slapped her hand over her face, and groaned in embarrassment while Ianto just rolled his eyes.  
Jack on the other hand didn't let himself be deterred by the slurs of Ianto's nephew or his brother-in-law's clumsy attempts at political correctness. With a sleazy grin that didn't bode well for Johnny, he sauntered up to him, flinging his arm around the shorter man's shoulders. “Oh, I can show you how in I am.”  
Now, Ianto groaned in tandem with his sister.  
Wide-eyed, Johnny gulped at the beaming larger-than-life man pressed close to him. It was obvious that he was way out of his comfort zone right now, but Ianto had to grant him that he reacted pretty cool to Jack's come-ons apart from a little helpless spluttering and indignant blushing.  
Pretty quickly – thank God –, Jack had mercy on Johnny, and let him be.   
Clearing his throat, the flustered man straightened his jumper, and wouldn't look at either Jack or Ianto for a moment.  
“How about a welcoming drink?” Rhian asked suddenly rather loudly and a little bit too cheerful.  
Ianto nodded curtly, reliefed, if he had to be truthful. “Sure, why not.”  
And after Jack had nodded yes as well, Rhian threw her husband a pointed look.  
“Yeah, ehm, right,” Johnny stammered, obviously still recovering from Jack's attentions, and stumbled a few steps backwards in the direction of the kitchen. “I'll, ah, go and, and get them.”   
A couple of minutes later, Johnny's return broke the uncomfortable silence that had descended between the siblings while an oblivious Mica had spontaneously laid claim to Jack and pulled him onto the floor in the meantime because she – enarmoured already with him, what a surprise – wanted to show him her newest toys.  
Ianto cocked a wary eyebrow when he saw Johnny's contrite look. His brother-in-law almost reluctantly handed him a bottle, squirming in embarrassment.  
“'M sorry, Ianto,” he mumbled, and looked guiltily from his wife to her brother. “I only have beer, no Cosmopolitan or something.”  
Ianto couldn't help but roll his eyes, Rhiannon not far behind, but he accepted the bottle with a tight smile.   
Accepting his drink as well, Jack snickered on the floor where he had already won over the formerly reluctant and sceptical David – probably aided very much by demonstrating to two wide-eyed children how he was able to move and steer David's electrically driven toy car with his vortex manipulator.  
The other three adults clanked their bottles together in a toast, and silently drank for a while.  
“So, ehm,” Johnny eventually tried some small talk, and he desperately caught Ianto's eye. “How long have you two been together, Ianto?” He hastily raised a hand disarmingly. “I mean, Rhian's told us stuff, but...”  
Ianto drew in a deep breath, but tried to give his brother-in-law a polite smile. The man was trying, after all. “That's complicated,” he answered evasively. “We started as an office shag,” probably wouldn't be what the two wanted to hear or what would be appropriate.  
Jack on the other hand, had no such squalms. “Oh, we started as a kinds of friends-with-benefits thing,” he supplied helpfully so that both the Davies couple blushed, then he shrugged. “But then, I was away for some time, and I realised that Ianto means more to me, and when... well, when he almost...” Here, Jack had to swallow heavily for a second, all cheerfulness gone for a split-second. “I simply knew.”  
Ianto felt his face heating, and the only reason he didn't have Jack's head was because of the underlying heart-felt earnestness he could detect in the immortal's voice. Swallowing heavily himself, his gaze met Jack's, and the onslaught of emotions he could read in the blue orbs took his breath away for a second.  
“Ehm, yeah,” he croaked, still holding Jack's gaze. “That's how it went.”  
“That's uncharacteristically romantic for you, Ianto,” Rhian tossed in.   
“Hey! I can do romance!” Ianto protested, pouting at his sister.  
“I can attest to that,” Jack added. “There was this one time...”  
“Too much information, Jack!” Ianto interrupted him hastily.  
Now, it was Jack's turn to pout. “You don't even know what I wanted to say.”  
“That's probably for the better.”  
“Fine,” Jack sighed dramatically. “You tell the stories then.”  
“I surely won't,” Ianto grumbled. “I think a change of topic is in order.” He turned a falsely cheerful smile onto his sister. “Tell me about the newest gossip around here.”  
Rhiannon pressed her lips together since she very well knew that Ianto couldn't care less about any gossip about the neighbours, but for the moment, she was willing to let him have his respite.  
He relaxed after that, she noticed, but not so much that he seemed comfortable here. He still looked twitchy, and his gaze darted around restlessly from Jack and the kids over to Johnny who refrained from any comments for the moment, letting her talk most of the time. As did Jack, actually – probably one of Ianto's fears tonight that his partner would say something embarrassing about the two of them. Jack seemed the type not to pass up any innuendo if the chance presented itself. It would do her little brother some good though to relax a bit. He was much too formal for her liking, looking as if he might scatter apart any moment now from stiff nervousness.   
As glad as she was that Ianto was here tonight, the atmosphere was much too awkward to be comfortable for any of them. She needed to have a heart-to-heart with him privately...  
“Ianto? Do you mind helping me in the kitchen?”  
Ianto blinked at his sister, a little startled when she abruptly changed the topic, but then, he nodded, his lips pressed tightly together.  
“Thanks, ladies,” Johnny grinned, obviously unable to let it go completely, and Ianto felt his face flush with anger.  
“Don't mind him,” Rhian scoffed as soon as they were in the kitchen, and she shoved Ianto in front of the stove with her where he loitered around a little helplessly.  
“I don't,” he assured her probably a little too quickly.  
By this point though, Ianto was actually glad to have been forced to help his sister with the food in the kitchen. This short escape gave him a moment to breathe since he felt that it became all too much too fast.   
And they hadn't even been here for longer than an hour yet.  
Not that he should have harboured any illusions that his sister wouldn't want to talk as soon as she'd got her little brother in her clutches, the two of them completely alone in the kitchen. Which had probably been her plan all along...  
He puttered around for a bit, more trying to play for time than actually doing anything productive. Rhian busied herself with the dishes for a moment so that an ominous silence descended over the siblings.  
When she had made sure the potatoes as well as the carrots were starting simmering nicely in their respective pots, she finally pounced on him. She tried not to be too offensive about it, not like Gwen who cut right to the point demanding answers with the sensivity of a bull in a china shop. But Rhiannon Davies wasn't less determined to get her answers.  
“Are you happy, Ianto?”  
Another smoothering silence descended over the room while Ianto tried to think of an answer that wouldn't give too much away, but at the same time would satisfy his sister.  
“I am,” he finally decided on truthfully.  
“Jack is... nice. Really charming. And looking fantastic.”  
“Yes, we established that already,” Ianto snapped, blushing against his will.  
“And... he really seems to care about you.”  
“He does,” Ianto answered softly, by now being able to admit to it.  
“But...” He could practically hear Rhian biting her lower lip. “He's so different from you; much older, too. And what about that job of yours?”  
“What about it?” he bristled instinctively, immediately sounding defensive because he felt that he wouldn't like what she would have to say.  
“It's so dangerous. Do you really wanna continue with that?”  
“We already talked about that as well,” he answered curtly.   
“Yes, but you never really gave an answer.”  
“There is no answer. I'm happy with what I have.”   
“You almost died!” she cried.  
“Well, yeah, not the first time that happened in this job,” he snapped back, finally looking at her. “It's not a big deal.”  
Rhiannon flinched back as if he'd struck her, her dark eyes wide in astonishment. Then, she pressed her lips together, and frowned fiercely. “It is for us!” she snapped back.  
Ianto turned away again, biting his lip. “I'm sorry for that. Really. But it's what I do. I can achieve something. Save people. Save the planet even.” Once more, he turned to his sister to look her in the eye imploringly. “Why do you think Mica and David are still here!” he demanded. “Because Torchwood did what had to be done. Jack almost...” But he stopped himself there. It wasn't her business, and fortunately, it hadn't happened anyway.  
“But at what cost! Why does it have to be my little brother who's throwing himself into danger head first?!”  
“Somebody has to. So why not me.”  
“And if you die for real the next time?”  
Ianto bit his lip, thinking about the answer for a moment. “Then I die. At least it would be for a good purpose.”  
“That happened to that girlfriend of yours, too?” Rhian demanded heatedly. “Did she die for a noble cause?” She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “First, you didn't even tell us you had met someone, then you took ages to confide in me that she died at that terrorist attack in London – which probably wasn't a terrorist attack at all when I think about it now.”  
Mentioning Lisa brought up the old pain in Ianto. Only for a split-second, but it was there, and it still hurt. He hung his head. “It wasn't,” he admitted softly, closing his eyes as if to hold back the tears that had long dried out in his eyes as well as his emotions. “And she died for nothing. She, and all my colleagues died because some higher-ups at Torchwood were arrogant.”  
Leaning on the counter before him, Ianto took in a couple of deep breaths to reign in his tumultous emotions. “I had to see her die, Rhian,” Ianto admitted willingly, his voice barely more than a whisper. “It was one of the most horrible days of my life.”  
“Why didn't you tell us?” Rhian asked softly, the compassion in her voice clear, but she refrained from rushing over to engulf her brother in a hug like Gwen would have done. She knew when he needed his space, and he was grateful for that.  
“It's hardly something that should be brought up at the dinner table or even the phone,” he scoffed bitterly. “And I couldn't anyway. It was top secret.”  
Rhian nodded in understanding, but then sighed softly. “All those lies.”  
Ianto shrugged. “Well, it's part of the job. Not my choice, but it's better that way if you ask me. Gwen even had to lie to her husband, but just so she could protect him.”  
“She told us about dad,” Rhian spoke up after another awkward silence had wrapped itself around them like a leech. “What you told them. That he was a master tailor.”  
Ianto felt a lump forming in his throat that made it hard to breathe. His face heated with embarrassment at being caught out, but he bit his lip, not saying anything.  
This time, Rhian did advance on him. She grasped his shoulders, and turned him towards her forcefully.  
“Why did you tell them that?” she wanted to know, her dark eyes flashing with hurt anger. “Are you ashamed about where you're from?” She stemmed her hands into her hips, not unlike her brother always did when he was stressed or angered. Her brows knitted together in a frown. “His job at Debbenhams was absolutely respectable, no need to be ashamed of that.” She glared at him. “But not good enough for you, hm?”  
“No, Rhian,” Ianto cringed, very wisely not bringing up the time after their father had lost his job due to the drinking, and their brief but disastrous time in London together that he couldn't remember, had only read about in Yvonne's encrypted file, as if it had happened to someone else. “That's not it.”  
“Then what is it?!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. “You're off to London for this complete new life with all those fancy suits, and the money. And then in Cardiff, too. You meet all these new people that probably couldn't be farther away from the people here. I imagine they were all some kind of specialists in their field. I bet none of them came from the estate. That it? Did you want to impress them so badly that you denied where you come from, trampling all over your origins?” Disappointed, angry, and sad, Rhian shook her head. “I don't understand you, Ianto. Whatever you're doing in this job, aren't your skills enough for that? Do you have to pretend? Can't you be yourself the rest of the time, and come back to your family?”  
“You don't even know who I really am, Rhian!” he burst out, not able to let that stand, and gradually fed up with some of the uncomfortable truths she hurled at his head.   
“Because you're never there!”   
“Yes, and do you know why? Because you never understood me. None of you ever did. But Torchwood did. It, they, gave me a new life, new meaning.”  
“Yeah,” she snorted bitterly. “A life in which you hide behind expensive suits and lies.”   
Once more, hot shame sat heavily in his stomach like heart-burn. She was right of course. All the lies. Because not all of them had been because of Torchwood. But to justify himself, it was true that neither his father nor his sister had ever understood him. Not even the few friends he'd had as a kid and teenager. He was too quiet, too introverted, and even too sarcastic which had given him a hard time growing up around boys like his brother-in-law. When he'd started acting up, even getting arrested, he had been accepted, but it had felt wrong inside. Fleeing to London had given him the chance to be himself for the first time in his life without being ridiculed for it. On the contrary; his colleagues had liked him for his sarcastic wit, his reserved, polite nature that wasn't even as much of a mask as everybody thought (maybe the manners were though; and trying to polish up his speech a little). Lisa had loved him for who he was, had even loved his strange quirks. And Jack did, too...   
But that didn't change the fact that he had obviously hurt his family. He hadn't done it on purpose and more to protect himself than everything else, but he had lied, and had distanced himself from his family even up to the point that he hadn't been there when his father died.  
“Yes,” he admitted eventually, his voice soft and tinged with regret and shame. “I was ashamed.”  
Yvonne had known were he came from, as did Jack, no matter how much Ianto polished up his file before coming to Cardiff, but still, he had felt the need to pretend to be someone else.  
“I never cared about where you come from.”  
The sound of Jack's unexpected voice startled them both. Ianto spun around, wide-eyed, to find Jack leaning in the doorway to the gloomy kitchen.   
Ianto suddenly realised that, although Jack had known, Ianto had never told him out of his own free will. The only thing he'd done was lie about his origins, and the rest of the time, they simply hadn't talked about their pasts. Sudden fear crept into his eyes, but Jack's only reaction was a soft smile and a gentle shake of the head.   
“I'm not mad,” Jack said. “How could I. I don't tell you where I'm from either, and I have a little more to hide than having grown up at the estate.” Once more, Jack shook his head. “But there's no reason to be ashamed. Why do you think you have to proof yourself to us? Yes, great, Owen was a doctor, so what? And Tosh was a genius, but that doesn't mean they were better than you. You're brilliant in your own way. You keep everything and everyone going, drag us back down to Earth with your sarcastic pragmatism. The others were just normal people as well.”   
“Yes, normal, but not...”  
Ianto stopped abruptly. He couldn't look at his sister. He didn't want to hurt her any more than he'd already done, and drag the life she led through the mire.   
Jack approached him, and put a finger over his lips. “Shh, don't. It doesn't matter. Where do you think I'm from?”  
“I don't know where you're from, Jack!” Ianto retorted heatedly, gratefully accepting the chance for a change of topic for the moment even if that opened yet another can of worms all on its own. “We never talk about your past. And that's okay,” he amended hastily. “I don't want your secrets. Not when you're not willing to tell me of your own free will.”  
“Very well.” Jack frowned in determination, ignoring Ianto opening his mouth to protest. “Then listen. I'm from a small colony planet at the arse end of nowhere in the 51st century. It was a hard life, a desert area at the sea. We had only the barest neccessities, but we were content.” His fierce gaze softened somewhat, and he smiled indulgingly. “Did you think only because I'm from another planet in the future and have a great smile that I was a prince or something?”  
They both ignored Rhiannon’s shocked gasp when the words “from the future” and “from another planet” fell.   
“No,” Ianto shook his head, and almost whined in his frustration that he couldn't express what he really wanted to say. He started to squirm uncomfortably, especially since he was overly aware that his sister was still in the room as well. “Why... why are we actually talking about all that?!” he tried to end the conversation, and he peeked at Jack, unsure. “We never talk about things.”  
Jack sighed, and his shoulders sagged suddenly. All of a sudden, he looked tired and small.   
Shaking his head softly that Ianto just wouldn't understand, he stepped even closer, placing his hands onto Ianto's hips, and pressing him against the counter behind him, their bodies pressed flush together from chest to knees. Both suddenly heard Rhian leave the kitchen discretely to finally give them some privacy.   
“Listen,” Jack said, looking Ianto deeply in the eye. “In the last few months, I realised that we had to treasure what we have. And I never want to be apart from you again.” A painful shadow flitted over his face. “At least as long as we have together. Please let's make the best of it. Let's talk from now on. You can ask me anything you want, and I promise I will answer. No flimsy excuses any more, no lewd stories as a distraction, no 'I will tell you later'. I will tell you. And in return, I'd like for you to do me the same courtesy; that you answer me honestly if I ask you.” Hastily, Jack raised his hands disarmingly. “Only... if you feel you can tell me, that is...”  
Ianto felt bad, and he was suddenly ashamed. Jack had changed so much in so short a time, he marvelled. It was actually the immortal now who was willing to make an effort, and turn what they had into a real relationship whereas before the 456-incident, it had been Jack who had been reluctant to committ to them. So why was Ianto acting so strange? He loved Jack, wanted to be with him for as long as he had, and he really wanted to know everything about him. He wanted them to be equals. And yes, of course he knew that in that case, he had to be completely open about his past and fears and whatnot as well.  
But truth was, he was afraid all of a sudden. That Jack now started to become serious about them somehow made it all real. Ianto had to contribute actively to this relationship now as well. Before, it had only been wishful thinking on Ianto's part so that he had never really counted on having to be honest with Jack about certain things as well since they weren't like that anyway. But now, he had to...   
“I don't deserve you,” was at the tip of his tongue, but he bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't want to set off another discussion since Jack would misinterpred his words. He didn't think any more that he didn't deserve Jack because of where he came from or because of any shortcomings he had and tried to hide, but because this time, he was messing things up with that whole relationship thing. And all because of his pride? He didn't even know any more why he was acting so stupidly.  
He let out a soft breath, suddenly feeling much lighter, almost light-headed, and he nodded mutely. “Okay,” he said meekly, but wouldn't meet Jack's eyes yet.   
Smiling, Jack put a finger under Ianto's chin to raise it up, and catch his gaze. “Ev'rything okay?”  
“Yes.” Ianto nodded, feeling better already.  
“Okay, then come on, back to the others. I'm getting hungry here.”  
“Food's in here,” Ianto mumbled petulantly.  
Jack grinned and winked at him. “But when we stay in here to have our heart-to-heart, your sister can't get in to finish cooking.”

To Ianto's immense relief, dinner itself went quite well and relaxed. Probably because Jack entertained everyone with outrageous stories that had Johnny and the kids in tears of laughter even if no one really knew if what Jack told them was the truth or not. Despite chuckling now and then because he'd been present and therefore knew that they were true, Ianto simply enjoyed the evening. He felt... content. Yes, that was it. For the first time while being with his family, he didn't feel out of place or uncomfortable. It actually was an amazing feeling, and he had a suspicion that he had Jack to thank for that in part. He marvelled every time how Jack managed to make friends with people and wrap them around his little finger (if he wasn't being busy antagonising everyone, especially Unit or Cardiff's police force, that is).

After the dessert had been served though, Ianto rose eventually.   
“It's been a great evening, Rhian, but we have to go now,” he smiled at her. He nodded at the kids who desperately tried to stay awake, but were almost asleep in their chairs. “It's high time.”  
With a frown between her brows, Rhian followed her brother into the hallway where he started collecting his coat, his scarf, and Jack's coat.  
“But you're staying here tonight,” Rhian protested as she rushed after him, closely followed by Jack. Ianto blinked at her.  
“What do you mean, we stay?”  
“Yes, yes,” she assured, and turned big puppy-eyes on him. “You almost died. You owe me one, don't you think?”  
Ianto cringed when she played the guilt card again. Although he knew perfectly well what she was doing, unfortunately, it worked equally as perfect.  
“Yeah, that may be,” he eventually conceded, “but... We don't have anything with us,” Ianto protested in the feeble hope to win the battle with that argument.  
Jack and Rhian looked at each other conspiratorially.   
“Jack! What did you do?!” He frowned at one, then the other. “Rhian?!”  
“I just had a little chat with your sister over the phone. And I really think we should stay.” Jack nodded his head in the general direction of the car outside, shrugging. “There's an overnight bag in the boot. Wouldn't it be nice if we could unwrap all our presents together tomorrow morning.”   
Ianto felt a lump rising up in his throat when he saw Jack's innocent eagerness.   
“Do you know how long it's been since I've just sat around a Christmas tree with a family, unwrapping presents like normal people? That will be great!”  
Ianto stared at Jack, his face a stoic mask while he got his bearings again, trying to smoother the compassion he felt for Jack's heartfelt wish. “I'll feed you to the Weevils, I swear,” he said through gritted teeth, but in reality, Ianto couldn't bring himself to say “no”, and actually destroy Jack's happy anticipation.  
Jack was unimpressed, and he laughed at Ianto. Instead, he pulled him close into a tight hug, and kissed his cheek. “My Grinch,” he snickered, and nuzzled the younger man's neck.  
Ianto grumbled something unintelligible, clearly unhappy about how things were proceeding, but then, he yielded with a sigh. He realised that this had been Rhian's – and Jack's, the bastard – plan all along; her ultimate goal had been having all of them together for tomorrow morning. Now, everything became clear to him...  
“Great,” Rhian beamed as if that had settled the argument. “Come on, let's get you two settled.”  
“You'll stay on the floor,” Ianto hissed in Jack's direction when he followed his sister back into the living room. “It's only fair that I get the couch.”  
Jack grinned at him disarmingly while Rhian turned around to him again with a frown. “Couch? What are you talking about?” She shook her head with an eye roll. “As if guests of mine – and my little brother no less – will have to sleep on the couch. You can choose, either you can have Mica's room or David's.” A sly grin materialised on her face while she ignored he brother's protest that they couldn't possibly take one of the kids' room. “It's either superhero bedding or pink unicorns.”  
“I'm for unicorns,” Jack promptly declared, and threw Ianto a suggestive grin and a wink. “After all, pink is your colour.”  
“I thought red is my colour,” Ianto growled, his cheeks colouring even more.  
“Pink is a variation of red, silly,” Jack laughed.  
Feeling helpless once more, Ianto stared at Jack in astonishment, then at his sister. But the two of them just looked at each other, and burst out in gleeful snickers.   
“Yeah, very funny,” Ianto huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He was very tempted to simply drive away, and leave Jack here with his new best friend.  
“Ahh, come on, Ianto,” Rhian giggled. “Laugh a little.”  
Ianto frowned, and resisted the pout that tugged at his lips. “If I want to have a laugh, I go into the basement,” he scoffed snobbily.  
“I know that,” Rhian drawled sarcastically, and rolled her eyes.   
“That's not how I see it,” Jack grinned, and slung his arm around Ianto's shoulders amicably, “in bed, he's very funny.”  
“Too much information, Jack!” Ianto cried while Rhian blushed involuntarily.  
Grinning, completely unconcerned, Jack pressed another wet kiss onto Ianto's cheek.   
Still grinning, Rhian turned for the stairs. “It's good for you,” she told her brother. “Some teasing. Lightens you up. And now go, and get that overnight bag while I change the sheets.”  
Staring open-mouthed at her, speechless for once, Ianto then spluttered. “Why do I...”  
But his words were aborted by the involuntary squeak he let out as Jack smacked his arse, and pressed the car keys into his hands.   
“See you upstairs,” he winked, and followed Rhian up the stairs.  
Sucking in deep breaths to try to get his blood pressure under control again, Ianto forced down the pout that wanted to materialise, and stomped outside to the car to get the bag Jack had obviously packed. He really, really considered driving away.  
He didn't. Instead, he returned into the house docilely, and met the two schemers in Mica's room. A groan got stuck in Ianto's throat when he spied all the pink and the dolls and the overly girliness of the room.   
“Great, isn't it,” Jack grinned, and looked around excitedly, hands stemmed into his hips expectantly. “This is almost better than an office.”  
Ianto almost choked on the new squeak that wanted to force itself out of his throat, and for a moment, he couldn't look at his sister who made a questioning noise.  
Even if she had no clue about the exact nature of the inside joke, she could make an educated guess. Cocking an eyebrow, she glared from one man to the other. “Make yourself comfortable,” she told them briskly, and made her way to the door. But before she pulled it shut behind her, she turned around once more, and told them a “And no shennanigans!” in warning.  
Ianto promptly blushed violently. “Surely not!” he pressed through gritted teeth.   
Jack for his part, grinned charmingly at Rhian before he advanced on her, and pressed a kiss onto the back of her hand. “I never kiss and tell, so how would you know.”  
And then, he winked at her, and gently pushed her out of the room.   
The door clicking shut behind Rhian seemed awfully loud and final. For a few seconds, deathly silence reigned in the room which Ianto enjoyed immensely.   
Not a minute later though, Jack came to life, and once again showed an alarming amount of interest in Mica's things. When the immortal started bending Mica's Barbie dolls in very unmistakable positions together, Ianto had reached this one point where he simply considered jumping out of the window to end it once and for all.  
He didn't since that maybe would have been a little too dramatic.   
But since he didn't have any weapon at hand with which he could at least end Jack's life instead, the only thing Ianto could do right this moment was endure it, completely out of his depth, and with his cheeks heating in mortification.   
At least, they were alone.  
“Jack!” he growled in a – probably futile – attempt to rein Jack in a bit.  
Questioningly, the Captain looked over his shoulder, expertly ignoring Ianto's thunderous expression. Instead, a salacious grin almost split Jack's face, and he dropped the Barbie dolls back on their shelf. With a swagger in his step, he advanced on Ianto.  
“Don't be jealous,” he cooed, and tapped Ianto's nose playfully. “You just had to say that you want to play as well.”  
And with that, Jack swept Ianto in his arms, and pulled him into a steaming kiss.  
For a moment, the befuddled young man could do nothing but lose himself in the kiss – damn Jack for being such a great kisser.  
But when his world suddenly tilted on its axis, and he felt himself being lowered onto a soft blanket, he abruptly resurfaced in the here and now as if being doused with ice water.  
“No, Jack!” he squealed, and shoved Jack away, glaring at him. “Not in my niece's bed!”  
Jack blinked at Ianto for a moment while he tried to figure out what his lover's problem was. Eventually, he shrugged. “It's not a big deal.” He smiled winningly at Ianto before he bend down to start raining enticing, gentle, wet kisses over Ianto's jaw and then his neck. His hands wandered to Ianto's tie and shirt buttons, and with every bit of skin that was revealed, he dove in for more kisses.   
“It's immoral,” Ianto ground out through gritted teeth, but couldn't supress the whimper that escaped him when Jack started working a nipple with teeth and tongue.   
“Nobody'll ever know,” Jack assured him, and licked a trail down Ianto's chest until he reached the waistband of his trousers.  
Ianto squirmed in equal part desire and reluctance when Jack peeled him out of his remaining clothes, and for a few blissful minutes, the desire came out the victor.   
Moaning, he closed his eyes, and arched into Jack's hot mouth doing things to him, but eventually, he made the mistake to open his eyes. His gaze fell right onto a stuffed bear on the bedside table, and all the blood that had been rushing south in his body suddenly came back up into his brain.  
“Jack! Stop!” He shoved Jack away. “I can't do this,” he declared breathlessly, meeting the confused Captain's eyes.  
Pouting, Jack looked down, both men noticing in dosmay how Ianto's erection was flagging a bit at the prospect of going through with Jack's plans.  
“But...” Jack sucked in his lower lip, nibbling on it in disappointment while he still stared hard at Ianto's cock as if willing it to come back to life through his will alone.  
Ianto had to suppress a groan when he saw Jack doing that with his lips, and he felt an interested twitch going through his cock in renewed interest despite .  
Jack noticed, of course, and beamed happily, a gleam of new determination shining in his eyes. He looked up at Ianto. “We can make a game out of it,” he suggested excitedly, firmly caressing the insides of Ianto's thighs. “Winner's who of us can be the quietest. You just have to pretend to be somewhere else.”  
“I don't have that much imagination,” Ianto ground out through gritted teeth, but gave in when Jack's hands wandered higher and higher.

Afterwards, Ianto lay flat on his back, a sated, drousy immortal plastered to his side, and he couldn't help but think that this was the most traumatic night of his life; having to have sex in pink unicorn bedding, surrounded by Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, and being subjected to the almost accusing stares of some girly popstars glaring down at him from their colourful posters on the walls.  
Shivvering slightly, he turned his head away, and tried to suppress the feeling of being watched. Jack, mistaking Ianto's shivver for being cold, wrapped more of himself around the younger man's body, encasing him in a living cage of heat and firm flesh. Sighing, Ianto tried to relax, and let Jack's scent soothe him, and his firm body against his ground him.  
Eventually, his eyes slipped shut of their own accord.

The door banging open the next morning startled both men from their sleep violently. Ianto's initial confusion and alarm was rapidly replaced by horror when his niece and nephew marched into the room. Hastily, he yanked the blanket up to his neck since he'd obviously been so shagged out last night that he had forgotten to put some clothes back on.  
“W-wha...” He cleared his throat to get rid of the lump that had formed. “What are you doing here?!”  
“We're only allowed to open the presents when ev'rybody is downstairs,” Mica explained, completely unfazed by the two men in the bed.  
“Yeah,” David agreed with an exasperated huff, looking everywhere but at his sister's bed. “So get your asses out of there.” The boy held up a hand. “As soon as I'm gone.”  
And with that, he rushed from the room. Mica, to Ianto's mortification, stayed, her hands stemmed into her hips expectantly in a once more frightening imitation of her mother – or uncle, Jack thought.  
“Mica! Get out of there!”   
Ianto breathed out a reliefed sigh when he heard his sister's admonishing voice.  
He wasn't as reliefed any more though when Rhian actually appeared in the open doorway. Because after shooing out her pouting daughter, she, despite a heavy blush on her cheeks, unashamedly looked her fill of an equally as unashamed Jack lounging on the bed with only the most neccessary bits of his naked body being covered by the blanket and a big grin on his face.   
She was only roused by her brother's furiously hissed “Rhian!”. Giving them both a wink, Rhiannon Davies sashayed out of the room.  
“I hate you all,” Ianto grumbled, his voice muffled since he'd pulled the blanket over his head.   
“Nah, you love us,” Jack grinned smugly, briefly wrapped his arms around the grumbling bundle, and then jumped from the bed to rummage in their bag for fresh clothes.   
“Hurry up. Presents!”

Just to spite everyone assembled, Ianto took his time dressing, even if he was risking some stupid comment from his brother-in-law like that.   
Without even having one drop of coffee in his body, Ianto was then ushered into the living room, and forced onto the couch so he could watch the excited kids dive into a small mountain of presents in search for the ones that were intended for them. The big kid in the room wearing braces and a big smile was not far behind. Just seeing Jack's innocent happiness that he was able to do this, have some carefree fun like every normal human being was supposed to have on Christmas, balanced out all the mortification Ianto had been subjected to over the last twenty-four hours. And... if he had to be truthful, it actually wasn't so horrible being part of this family moment.  
Nonetheless, he was so, so grateful when he could slip off to the kitchen to produce some decent coffee – having to endure his sister's coffee making “skills” would have been the last straw.

Ianto deeply breathed in the cool, crisp mid-morning air, enjoying the weak beams of sunlight caressing his face. A sudden calm swept over him, and he felt at peace because he had gone through with this, and thus made his sister happy. Maybe, he himself had needed this family gathering as well, and he hadn't even known it.  
But now, they had to get back to their lives, crazy Rift and aliens included. And he wanted it like that. As long as Jack was at his side...  
“Ah, thank the Gods, it's still there!” Jack's happy sigh brought him out of his contemplative, sentimental musings, and the Captain started for the car. Even if it wasn't his beloved SUV but Ianto's car (taking Ianto's car had been the one condition he'd had for coming here), Jack had been reluctant to leave the car out here overnight.  
Ianto felt his face heating. He still felt embarrassed about losing their fortress of a car, and to this day, he couldn't explain himself how these idiots had managed to break into the SUV. He maybe never would because they miraculously had stood fast even after Jack had interrogated them (they'd probably been way too scared to utter even one coherent word) – while Ianto had been in hospital, Jack had traced down those thugs, had gotten back the SUV, and put the fear of God into them... and since then couldn't stop teasing Ianto about the whole incident.   
When a warm hand suddenly slipped into his, Ianto startled, and looked into Jack's smiling face. “Come,” Jack said gently, but Ianto could still recognise the slight teasing note in Jack's voice so as if the immortal had known what had been going through Ianto's mind. His smile breaking out into a full-fledged grin, Jack raised their intertwined hands to his lips, and pressed a kiss onto the back of Ianto's hand.   
“I love you,” he said simply without ever breaking eye contact.  
Once more, peace descended over Ianto, and he smiled back, truly relaxed for the first time in ages.  
“I love you, too.”

End


End file.
